It’s only a half-mile stretch of road, but Pasadena took money from last year’s federal stimulus bill and shrunk Cordova Street from four lanes to two as part of a new civic experiment to emphasis other modes of travel. The newly reconfigured street will have a left-turn lane down the middle, curb extensions to shorten crosswalk distances and new bike lanes in both directions. In its former incarnation, Cordova was designated a “bike route” although there were no cycling amenities — just the chance for bikes to ride in 35 mph auto traffic while trying not to get killed and wondering who decided it was a “bike route.” If it works, some of those changes could be coming to the Arroyo Parkway, so says the city’s website. And here’s a link to a post at Good about Long Beach’s road diets and here’s a link to a post at sfexaminer.com about new bike lanes in S.F. that would be between the parking lane and the curb.

The CHP has long had a website that shows real-time accident data. But now the agency has created a mobile version that gives basic information about the location of accidents that the CHP are responding to — there’s a screenshot at right. The app’s address is http://m.chp.ca.gov and it’s worth bookmarking.

Mayor Sam Adams wants to take one of Portland’s strengths — it’s many distinctive neighborhoods — and make it stronger by having many of the things a resident may need be within a 20-minute walk. Excerpt:

We’re also working to make every section of Portland a complete 20-minute neighborhood to strengthen our local economy. Two-thirds of all trips in Portland and in most American cities are not about getting to and from work. So if I can offer quality, affordable goods and services, eliminate food deserts, have neighborhoods with schools and parks and amenities–if I can create these 20-minute complete neighborhoods all over Portland–it strengthens our local economy.

The entire interview is pretty interesting. Adams also talks about Portland’s push to give citizens as much raw data as they can about how the city works.